Conveyer for mixers



May 20, 1930. F. A. DAVIDSON CONVEYER FOR MIXERS Filed Oct. 1, 1927 4Sheets-Sheet '1 F. A. DAVIDSON CONVEYER FOR MIXERS May 20, 1930.

4 Sheets-Sheet Filed Oct. 1, 1927 y 1930. F.. A. DAVIDSON CONVEYER FORMIXERS Filed Oct. 1, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet May 20, 1930. F. Al DAVIDSONCONVEYER FOR MIXERS File d Opt. 1, 1927 4 Shets-Sheet -4 Patented May20, 1930 UNITED STATES ATENT FFECE CONVEYEB roa mixnns Application filedflctober 1, 1927. Serial No. 223319.

My invention is a conveyor for mixers such and conveyed to the mixer,this being in regulated amounts as required by the proportions of themixture.

Another object of my invention is the construction of a machinepreferably mounted on wheels for transportation and having bins in whichthe aggregates, such as sand and stone, or a mixture. of the sand andstone,

may be dumped directly from dumping trucks. In connection with thesebins, a horizontal conveyor is utilized to convey these aggregateslongitudinally of the carriage or vehicle while the bins are beinggradually dumped. In connection -with this mechanism I have a hopperwith a discharge chute for cement so that the cement may be dumped intothe longitudinal conveyer in the proportions required for the loaddischarged from the bins. In connection with the horizontal conveyer Ihave an elevating 80 conveyor which receives the aggregates with thecement incorporated therewith, and car- Ties this to a suitableelevation where it may be discharged into an adjustable spout to bedumped into the concrete mixer, the spout being arranged to tilt atdifierent inclinations, to the horizontal and vertical and to swing inan are, so that the material may be discharged on'one side or the otherof the machine or straight ahead. 40 Another object of vmy invention ishaving an automatic control for the conveyors, this control beingadjustableand being arranged to set so that after a predetermined periodof operation, the conveyers arestopped; this stoppage may be controlledto. synchronize with the mixing in the concrete mixer and to feed thematerial after the mixer has dis-' charged the mixed concrete.

Another object of my invention is-in having a clutch nechanism operatedby hand so that the bins may be dumped by a dumping arrangementconnected to a continuously rotatable shaft, there being a plurality ofthese bins and each bin being controlled separately.

, In constructing my invention 1 have a suitable carriage structure withwheels and an adjustable device to raise or lower the carriage structureto different elevations in regard to the wheels. On the carriage I sohave a pair of bins which are pivotally mounted near the center of thecarriage, the outer sides of the bins having means to elevate them fordumping. The bins discharge into an endless conveyer having buckets:which travels in a horizontal direction, regeiving the aggregates dumpedfrom the ins.

A hopper with a chute for cement discharges at the rear end ofthe'earriage into the horizontal conveyer, there being a platformadjacent the chute on which bagsof cement maybe placed; also, I have adriving engine mounted on this platform. Extending from the rear end ofthe carriage there is an elevator with an endless conveyer havingbuckets, this being adjustable to different inclinations and swinging ona horizontal pivot. A spout is connected to the outer end of theelevator by guard plates having a horizontal pivot with anadjustablearrangement to tilt the guard-plates, the spout swinging from the guardplates on a vertical pivot.

Extending upwardly from the carriage 35 there is a frame structure andthe rear frame structure has a plurality of transverse shafts one ofwhich is driven from the englne, and by means of suitable gearing motionis conveyed fromthe driven shaft to counter shafts, these shaftshavingmeans to drive the horizontal conveyers and the conveyer I in theelevator. I provide a screwconnected with the conveyor operating shafts,and with a nut engageable and disengageable" with said screw, this nuthaving a construction for operating the clutch to release the j clutchafter a predetermined travel, thereby stopping the conveyers. The nutmay be held out of operation When desired, The bins are dumped by ablock and cable construction connected to the frame, the ends of thecables being wound on drums on one of the counter shafts, these drumsbeing controlled by man ually operated clutches. For the sake ofsimplicity I prefer to change the inclination of the elevator by amanually operated drum.

My invention will be more readily understood from the followingdescription and drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 inthe direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a partial side elevation of the rear end showing theelevator and discharge spout.

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 inthe direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a detail vertical longitudinal section through thetransverse screw and the nut co-operating therewith.

The carria e structure and frame of my invention is su stantially asfollows having reference particularly to Figs. 1 through 5;

The carriage structure is designated generally by the numeral 11 and hasa horizontal platform or table 12 with de ending flanges 13 at eachside. Substantial rackets 14 are secured to the lower side of theplatform at about the center and longitudinally extending arms 15 are,secured to these brackets by pivot pins 16. These arms have a downwardlyinclined section 17 and a horizontal section 18. The horizontal sectionshave 20. Straps 21 limit the downward movement of the castor wheels.These wheels may be forced downwardly by hand operated screws 22operating through nuts 23 on the platform 12, the lower ends of thescrews engaging the arms 18 as illustrated at 24.

A frame-work, designated generally by the numer al 25, is constructedwith corner posts 26, a post 26' adjacent the rear corner,

a pair of side posts 27, and an intermediate rear end post 27 The cornerpost on one side at the rear is set in from the corner, as illustratedin Figs. 1 and 3. The upper ends of the posts are connected by top crossbeams 28. There are longitudinal side top members 29 and a centerlongitudinal strap 30, and longitudinal bars 31 connecting the two reartop cross beams 28.

The driving mechanism involves the following features An engine 35 ismounted on the platform 12 and by means of a belt and pulley or otherdrive 36 rotates the main shaft 37 which is journaled in the rear posts26, 26 and 27'. There is a clutch shaft 39 below the main shaft 37 andis driven therefrom by a sprocket chain drive 40. This shaft isjournaled in the rear post 26 and the intermediate post 27 An uppershaft 41 is journaled in the rear posts 26, 26 and 27 and is driven fromthe clutch shaft 39 by a chain and sprocket drive 42. A lower shaft 43is journaled in one of the side flanges 13 and in a downward extension44 of the post 26 and a yoke 45 extending downwardly from theintermediate rear post 27'.

The conveyer construction comprises a longitudinally extending troughconstructed in the center of the platform 12 from the front end partlytowards the rear end, and in this trough is carried the upper run 51 ofan endless conveyer 52, this conveyer having buckets 53 mounted on asprocket chain 54. This chain passes over a rear sprocket gear 55 on theshaft 43 and a front idler sprocket gear 56. The lower run of thehorizontal conveyer hangs below the trough 50.

An elevator has side plates 61 and a bottom plate 62. The lower end ismounted on a pivot shaft 63 which is ournaled in the side plates 64 of adischarge hopper 65 which extends rearwardly from the rear end of thetrough 50 and is rigidly secured to the under part of the platform 12.An upper shaft 66 is journaled at the upper end of the side plates 61 ofthe elevator 60. Sprocket gears 67 and 68 are carried by the shaft 63and the shaft 66 and over these pass the chains 69 of an endlessconveyer 70 having buckets 71, the upper run following along the uppersurface of the plate 62. The pivot shaft 63 is driven by a sprocketchain 72 from a gear 73 on the lower shaft 43 to a gear 74 on the shaft63. castor wheels'l9 connected thereto by swlvels In order to give apositive drive to the sprocket 68, a sprocket chain 75 is operated froma sprocket gear on the shaft 63 and a sprocket gear 76 on the shaft 66.The elevator is raised and lowered by means of a cable 76connectedthereto by a bail 77, this cable passing over a pulley 78 onthe rear intermediate post 27 and is wound on a drum 79 operated by ahand crank 80; this drum being on a shaft 81 journaled in a bracket onthe post 27 A guard plate 85 is mounted on a horizontal pivot 86 in theside plates 61 of the elevator, this guard plate having an end plate 87which extends across the end of the eleva tor. It is provided with anoperating arm 88 which may be engaged in any one of a series of notches89 on a plate 90 secured in a fixed position on one of the side plates61. This arm has suflicient resiliency to allow movement from one notchto another. A vertical pivot bolt 91 depends from a cross pin 92 of theguard plate, and a spout 93 is mounted in a rotatable manner on thispivot bolt, being retained in position by the head 94 of such bolt. 'Thespout may be turned from one side to the other, or discharged directlyto the rear of the machine.

The bin construction and the means for actuating same is substantiallyas follows, having reference particularly to Figs. 1 through 5: I

There are two bins'designated 100. Each of these bins has a base plate101, an outside rim 102 and front and rear rims .163. The inner edge 104of the bins is free of obstructions and is positioned substantiallycentrally over the upper run of the horizontal conveyer in the trough50. Each of these bins is mounted on a pivotal structure 105 positionedadjacent the edge of the trough. 50.

The bins are tilted in the following manner: Front and rear cables 106and 107 are connected through pulley blocks 108 attached to the rim 102and to blocks 109 attached to the upper part of the frame. These cableslead to the rear of the frame and are wound on a drum 110, there beingtwo of these drums loosely mounted on the up er shaft 41; one drumhandles the cables from the bin on one side and the other drum, thecables from the a bin on the other side of the platform.

The manipulation of the cables is through the medium of clutches 111,each of, which has a fixed clutch jaw 112 secured to the shaft 41. Theshiftable clutch jaws 113 are connected to the drums 110. A ratchet 114is secured between the drums 110 and the shiftable clutch jaw 113.Combined pawls and yokes 115 are slidably mounted on a bar 116'. Thesehave a yoke arm 117 to engage in the groove 118 between the ratchet 114and the slidable clutch jaw 113 and also have a tooth 119 to engage theteeth of the ratchet (note particularly Figs. 2 and 3). There are twooperating arms 120 and 121 each of which has a horizontal rod 122 andvertically depending rods 123. Theselatter are adapted. to engage innotches 124 in a plate 125 which is secured to the rear corner post 26and to the intermediate post 27'.

The ends of the rods 122 have a crank arm 126 which is hooked into eachpawl and yoke 115, as indicated at 127.

The manner of operation to control the dumping of the bins issubstantially as folows:

As above mentioned the upper shaft 41 is constantly rotated, beingdriven from the main power shaft 37. Therefore the clutch jaws 112,being mounted on this shaft, constantly rotate. Either one or the otherof the shiftable jaws 113 may be engaged with the fixed jaws 112 byreleasing the operating arms 120 and 121 from the notches 124 andshifting these longitudinally so as to pull or shove the combined pawland" yokes 115;

thus either one of the drums '110 is brought into rotation by the shaft41 and winds in the cables 106 and'107. When the bins are raised to thedesired extent, which may be fully tilted or at any angle, the clutches111 are thrown out and the operating arms 120 and 121v rocked again intothe notches. This brings the pawl into engagement with the ratchet,thereby holding either or both of the drums 110 stationary.

When it is desired to lower the bins, the operating arms are rockedoutwardly, which action disengages the awl tooth from the ratchet andallows the rumsto rotate freely on the shaft 41. The weight of the binsthen causes them to return to the horizontal position, as shown inFig. 1. (Note, particularly Figs. 1, 2 and 3.)

Cement may be fed to the conveyers by means of a hopper 130 which has aslidable gate 131 discharging into the chute 132 which empties into thetrough 50 through which the upper run of the conveyer 52 operates. (NoteFigs. 1 through 4.) J

The automatic, stopping of the conveyers involves "the screw 135, whichis peened or otherwise connected to the shaft 43, and hence rotates solong as this shaft rotates. arm 136 having a nut threaded section 137 isslidably mounted on a cross rod 138 and has a handle 139, there being abent section 140 (note particularly Figs. 3 and 6). A spring 141 issecured between the arm 136 and thefixed part of the vehicle such as theunder side of the platform 12. It will be seen that as the nut 137 is ahalfnut, by rocking the arm 136, this may be disengaged and the nutshifted from one end of the screw 135 to the other or to anyintermediate point.

The clutch shaft 39 has a clutch 145 thereon which has a clutch jaw 146rigidly secured thereto and a shiftable clutchjaw 147 which is connectedto the sprockets which receive the drive from the sprocket gearing 40from the main shaft 37 and also convey the drive to the upper shaft 41through the sprocket gearing 42. A clutch collar 148 having a groove isconnected to the shiftable jaw 147. This groove is engaged by a pivotedplate 149 mounted on a pivot 150 secured to the rear post 26 andconstantly pressed outwardly by a spring 151. This plate is connected ina groove 152 on a rocking arm 153 which has one part 154 extendinginwardly through the post 26, and the lever end 155. The part 154 isprovided with a shoulder 156.

When the half nut 137 is moved to the left, as indicated in Fig. 3, thearm 136 particularly the part 139, comes in contact with the plate 149and presses to the left, compressing the spring 151. This action drawsthe jaw 147 into disengagement from the jaw .146 of the clutch 145 onthe shaft 39, thereby preventing driving from the clutch 39 to theshaft43 or to the upper shaft 41. When the shoulder 156 is thrustoutwardly sulficiently to be on the outside of the rear corner post 26,the weight of the lever end 155 turns this downwardly. so that it isrotated partly and en ages the outer side of this post, thereby holdingthe plate 149 in its retracted po sition, consequently disengaging theclutch and stopping the movement of the shaft 43, thereby stopping boththe horizontal conveyer andthe conveyer in the elevator.

In order to limit the movement of the nut to the left or starting point,a pin 158 may be fitted in any one of a series of holes 159 in theplatform 12. In order to hold the nut disengaged, the arm 136 may berocked by pulling on the handle 139 and a hook 160 secured to theplatform 12 may engage over the bent section 140. This holds the nutoutwardly from the thread 135, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6.

The operation of the conveyer control mechanism is substantially asfollows:

The pin 158 may be placed in the proper hole 159 so that when the arm136 with the nut 13'? travels from this pin, which engages the upperportion of the arm 136, to the left, as shown in Fig. 3, or to theright, as shown in Fig. 1, the arm comes to its extreme position anddisengages the clutch 145; thus stopping the conveyers.

It will, therefore, be seen that this arrangement may be manipulated toallow the conveyers to operate for a certain definite time period andthen to come to a stop. This may be so arranged as to feed theaggregates in the bins 100 to the horizontal conveyer at the desiredrate of speed, the operator dumping the cement in the cement hopper 130in accordance with the amount of material which is required for eachbatch of the concrete mixture.

Various changes may be made in the principles of my invention withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof, as set forth in the description,drawings and claims.

I claim:

1. In the art described, the combination of a platform having alongitudinal central trough, an endless conveyer having its upper runoperating horizontally in said trough, bins pivotally mounted on theplatform on each side of the trough, a frame structure above theplatform, a cable and pulley block connection between the frame and thebins, a rotatable shaft having drums loose thereon on which said cablesare wound, means to actuate said shaft, clutches to engage and disengagethe drums and the shafts, and means to operate the conveyer.

2. In the art described, as claimed in claim 1, a discharge hopperconnected to the rear end of the platform, an elevator having sideplates and a bottom plate pivotally connected to said hopper, an endlessconveyer operating in said elevator, the upper run of said conveyerbeing positioned to receive material dumped from the upper run of theconveyer in the trough, a cable connected to the elevator, and a windingmechanism on the frame to operate said cable to vary the tilt of theelevator.

3. In the art described, a platform having an endless conveyer operatinglongitudinally thereof, a plurality of bins pivotally mounted on theplatform to discharge on the upper run of the conveyer, an elevator,means pivotally connecting same to the platform, a second endlessconveyer in the elevator, a frame extending upwardly from the platformhaving a power driven shaft therein, a clutch shaft mounted in the frameand having a clutch, means to drive the clutch shaft from the powershaft and means to drive the elevator from the clutch shaft, ascrewthreaded shaft driven from the clutch shaft, a shift able anddisengageable nut engaging the screw, and means actuated by theshiftable nut at the end of its travel to disengage the clutch and hencestop the operation of the conveyers.

4. In the art described, as claimed in claim 3, the nut being connectedto an arm, said arm being slidably mounted on a cross rod, meansconnected to the platform to limit the movement of the said arm in onedirection, forming a starting place for engaging the nut and the screw,and means to lock the clutch out of engagement when disengaged by thesaid nut.

5. In the art described, the combination of a platform having an endlessconveyer operating lengthwise thereof, means to discharge material onthe upper run of said conveyor, an elevator having a second conveyerpositioned to receive material discharged by the first conveyer a frameextending upwardly from the platform and having a power driven shaft, aclutch shaft in the frame, a shaft having a screw, a clutch on theclutch shaft, 9. gear and sprocket connection between the power shaftand the clutch shaft operating through said clutch, a sprocket and gearconnection between the clutch shaft and the shaft having the screw,means to actuate the conveyers from the shaft having the screw, adisengageable nut to enga e the screw, said nut having an arm, the armeing slidably mounted on a cross rod, 2. spring to engage the nut andthe screw, a pivotally mounted plate with means interconnecting theplate and one part of the clutch, the arm of the nut being ada ted toengage the plate at the end of its stro e and shift the plate, therebyshifting the clutch, and means actuated by the movement of the plate tolock the plate in a shifted posltion holding the clutch open.

6. In the art described, as claimed in claim 5, a platform having aseries of holes, a pin fitting in said holes, the pin forming a limit tothe positioning of the arm of the nut on the cross rod, givin an initialposition for engaging the nut wit the screw.

7. In the art described, a platform having an endless conveyer extendinglengthwise thereof, a pair of bins pivotally mounted on opposite sidesof the conveyer to dump thereon, a frame extending upwardly from theplatform, cables connected by pulleys between the frame and the bins, apower driven shaft journaled in the frame, a second shaft journaled inthe frame having drums loose thereon, said drums winding in the cables,clutches on the second shaft to interconnect with the drums, a ratchetconnected to each of the drums, a pivotally mounted pawl and yoke toengage each of the clutches and each of the ratchets, means to shifteach of the combined pawl and yokes to shift each of the clutches tooperate each of the drums, and means to engage each of the pawls to eachof the ratchets to hold the drums with the cables wound thereon to thedesired extent.

8. In the art described, as claimed inclaim 7, the means to shift thecombined pawls and yokes comprising rods having a crank connection toeach of the combined pawls and yokes, said pawls and yokes beingpivotally mtzlunted, and means to slide and to rock said ro s.

9. In the art described, an elevator having an endless conveyeroperating therein, a guard plate pivotally mounted on the elevator foradjustment about a vertical axis, the elevator having a structure with aseries of notches, an operating arm connected to the guard plate andinterengaging the notches to hold the guard plate in adjusted position,and a spout swivelly connected to the guard plate for adjustment about avertical axis.

10. In the art described, the combination of a platform, a pair ofbrackets connected thereto at substantially the center consideredtransversely, a pair of arms pivotally connected to each bracket, castorwheels pivotally connected to each of the arms,operatin screws threadedthrough the platform an having their free ends engage the said arms tovary the adjustment of the platform relative to the castor wheels.

the arm of the nut atthe of travel thereby opening the .clutch on theclutch shaft engage the pawls to the ratchets and to dis- I engage same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

F. A. DAVIDSON.

11. In the art described, the combination of a platform having anendless conveyer operating len hwise thereof, an elevator con- "nectedto t e rear end of the conveyer and having a second endless conveyerreceiving material'dumped by the first conveyer, bins pivotally mountedon the platform to discharge into the first conveyer, a frame exclutchshaft and from the clutch shaft to the screw shaft and to the uppershaft, means connected to the upper shaft to tilt the bins,

a disengageable nut havin an arm slidably mounted on a cross rod wimeans to engage the nut and the screw, a clutch release device mountedon the frame and bleby

